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Pounds & Ounces in Chelsea, NYC

Pounds & Ounces is located in Chelsea. This bar and restaurant looks like an Art Deco-inspired bar that looks quite handsome, especially when night sets in. The dining area is dark wood with an interesting boxing mural and dotted with two lounge tables with plush leather chairs.

While we’re perusing the menu, my friend had the potent yet fruity Chelsea Breeze ($14) and I had a good Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon ($10) that has cherry notes and tobacco nose with medium tannins that could stand up to a burger.

Pulled duck tacos, Roasted beets salad & Asparagus fries

We started with pulled duck tacos ($13) topped with caramelized onions, figs, hoisin sauce, cilantro, and a side of caramelized lime. The tacos were pretty flavorful from the soft, sweet onions and the duck gave it some heartiness. Asian nod with the sweet-tangy-savory hoisin sauce was a good choice highlighted with a zing of lime.

F&Kn burger ($24) is a monstrous pound burger composed of eight ounce burger, layered in between a soft Parkler roll, and topped with short ribs and melted fontina cheese sitting in a pool of jus. This burger can easily feed two people and you have to eat this with a knife and fork because of its size and because it’s saturated in jus like a French dip sandwich. In terms of flavor, it’s decent. There’s so much of the rich short ribs and cheese that it got in the way of the burger and it lacked the needed acidity to break up from fattiness of the burger.

The grilled tuna sandwich ($15) with pomegranate wasabi dressing, lettuce, tomato, crispy seaweed on brioche roll fared better. The soft bun worked well with the juicy tuna. If the dressing wasn’t so timid, this sandwich would have been pretty great.

Moroccan chicken

The Moroccan chicken ($21) was vegetable couscous, kumquat marmalade, and green olives was the most disappointing dish of the meal. While the chicken is juicy and cooked perfectly, it’s under seasoned, lacking the spices and vibrant flavors what I usually find in Moroccan food and it has too much broth.

In a nutshell, Pounds & Ounces is great for a place for drinks after work, with small groups, and/or a date. When it comes to the food, the kitchen is strongest with simpler bar fare. Stick with that plan and you could have a good time.

To view more photos of this event, please view the slideshow below (or CLICK HERE for my photo set):